[Tango-L] Traspie

[Huck Kennedy]

On Fri, Jul 11, 2008 at 1:48 PM, Mario <sopelote at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>  Well I've been after finding out what 'TRASPIE' meant for several months now..(4)
>  Today, I think I got it and I am happy to share it here for those, like myself, who are not
>   among the old guard, know it all, seen it before, readers of Tango-L (Astroid)

     Before responding to your actual question, I must ask:  Do you
have to begin each post of yours with a whine or an insult--and
usually both?

>  Here it is..is Traspie a step? a rhythm? ..you make up your mine but happily
>  I can now show it to you at 1:03 and 1:12 seconds into this video.. if anyone can
>  add comments that would be appreciated..if I am wrong, please tell me and show me
>  the right meaning of the word....with not soooo many words, I hope.
>
>  http://mx.youtube.com/watch?v=y1-gW8S9T4E&feature=related

     The only thing I see at 1:03 and 1:12 are a couple of ungainly large steps.

     As with so many tango terms, if you ask 100 people what something
means, you'll probably get a hundred different answers.  In my
travels, I've pretty much narrowed traspie down to two basic
definitions, the first very general, and the second much more
specific:

     1.  "Plain vanilla" (so to speak) milonga is just taking one step
per beat.  Traspie is mixing in some double-timing (often mistakenly
referred to as "syncopation" by dancers) here and there.  One
Argentine instructor I knew (can't recall exactly who) defined traspie
as "happy feet."  Here is one example a brief search on YouTube
produced:

http://mx.youtube.com/watch?v=n75p6oDGGdw

Instructors often stress that for it to be traspie, you have to
actually make weight changes, and not merely tap your foot.

     2.  Some people get more specific in their definition, talking
about a cross step.  For example, from the glossary on tejastango:

Traspie — Cross foot; triple step: A walking step with a syncopated
cross. Using two beats of music the dancer does step-cross-step
beginning with either foot and moving in any direction.  See
Contrapaso and Rabona.

Contrapaso — A step produced when you lock one foot behind the other.
For instance right foot steps forward, left foot locks behind right.
Now right foot steps forward again.  This can be done in single or
double time, in one instance or repetitively.  Also see Rabona and
Traspie.

     This interpretation is like the lockstep in the Quickstep dance
of ballroom dancing.

     Consider this video:

http://mx.youtube.com/watch?v=DrgTGTeeP5I

     Look at the step at 0:48 to 0:49 where he does a right forward
crossing step (ie. he steps forward outside partner), then steps back
slightly with his left foot, and then brings his right foot back to
meet (or almost meet) it in a sort of quick tiny cruzada.  From 0:51
to 0:58 he does a lot more of this.  The sequence from 1:59 to 2:02 is
an interesting variation.

     Now if you go back to the first Cleveland video, you can see a
forward lock step at 0:21 to 0:22, and some interesting stuff where
Oscar keeps crossing his left foot over his right on through 0:27.

Huck